Man's kayak flips; dog found alive inside mile away

Jeff Nichols found on island, Chihuahua found safe

What at first appeared to be a tragic story of a 57-year-old kayaker drowning in a lake along with his dog ended up with a doubly happy ending on Monday.

Jeff Nichols said he was kayaking with friends near the Green Pond boat ramp on Lake Hartwell. Nichols had brought along his dog, a 4-year-old Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix named Senorita. He says she is his constant companion.

They paddled out to an island in the lake.

Nichols said, “When I went out to the island, it was clear weather. So me and my dog walked around the island,” Nichols said. “When we started back, a storm just came up.

When the water got rough, Nichols said he put a life-jacket on and put Senorita in the cubbyhole and locked it down to keep her safe.

“It really got rough wind raining and the next thing I know it was a four foot wave that come up over and flipped my kayak over,” he said.

When he surfaced, he was disoriented, but he was able to find his kayak.

“I tried to get back into my kayak but couldn’t. I was hanging on to my kayak and another big wave comes and it took me under and when it did I lost control of my kayak.”

The wind and waves quickly moved the kayak away from Nichols.

When it looked like Nichols had gone under, his friends reported him missing.Nichols said, “I stayed out there for five hours screaming for help. I could see the rescue people out there with lights.”

“I was in the water for about five hours, (I was) scared, but I was more worried about my dog.

At about 11:30 p.m., Nichols’ son and his son’s boss found him safe on an island in the lake.

They then located the kayak about a mile away from the island, with Senorita safe inside the cubbyhole of the boat.

“Once I found out that she was safe, it made me feel a whole lot better. The emergency people done a real good job.”

But Nichols also acknowledged that being properly prepared probably saved his life.

“I had my life jacket on which saved my life because the storm hit me so quick and so fast. There was nothing I could have done.”

Nichols said he may stay in the coves on the lake rather than open water from now on.

“It was scary,” he said. “I am not going to lie to you.”

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